I keep filling pet beds and I am still working on my most recent.
We aren’t filling them up as much with schnibbles any more, but just how much is something I have to confirm.
As mentioned, the schnibbles don’t wash well and become giant lumps that pets can’t mold into a comfy shape. I knew this and it worried me, but I was happy to be using my schnibbles for something.
We are now filling the pet beds with Poly-fil** and batting. I am confused about whether we aren’t filling the pet beds with schnibbles at all or only a little bit. I have already stuffed this one a bit, so am now wondering if I will need to remove the schnibbles, put them in a different type of bag and hand them in separately to fill the cubie?
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Saturday’s trunk show inspired me to look at the (photos of) the Aneela Hoey patterns I have made. I have a tag for them, but realized I hadn’t tagged all the posts correctly.
Boxy Clear Pouch
Carrie’s Boxy Clear Pouch with gift bag
Tim’s Boxy Clear Pouch
Lil Sissy’s Inside Outside Pouch – 3/4s view
Dripping Roses Inside Outside Pouch with thread
Inside Outside Pouch finished
2-in-1 Case (fixed by Carrie)
Tula 2-in-1 Case
2-in-1 Case #4 exterior – open
2-in-1 Case #2- closed
Mom’s 2-in-1-Case
Sue’s Kit Supply Tote
Carrie’s Kit Supply Tote
Finished: Kit Supply Tote
Officer Gifts: Speedy Pouches
In looking at this list, I realize I have only made 1 project from Aneela’s book, Stitched Sewing Organizers. Most of the others were sewn from stand-alone patterns. I know my friend MaryM has made more. I’ll see about getting the book out again and making another project from it. There is one big organizer that I keep looking at.
The BAM meeting was good yesterday. I loved the Bag Trunk Show that Lynette did. I admire her work so much and she is a fantastic presenter. She was super well organized. She brought the patterns as well as the bags, which was really nice and stepped up the trunk show game!
She talked about the designers she liked, starting with Aneela Hooey. She showed the patterns as she talked about the bags she has made including the Boxy Clear Pouch, the Kit Supply Tote, and several others, which I haven’t made. She then talked about the patterns she has made from the stitched Sewing Organizers book, which I have also discussed and used for patterns, including the 2-in-1 Case. I have made a lot of Aneela Hoey Patterns, but Lynette, I think has made more. I tend to make several of the same ones.
Lynette’s bags
She also likes to make Minki Kim patterns. The one she talked about was the one she used to show all the different interfacings when she did a skillbuilder demo at a meeting last year. It is kind of a dome shaped bag in the center of the photo with several examples.
I love bags, bag patterns and other people’s bags so this was a great trunk show for me. I especially love Lynette’s work. I think I am a pretty good bagmaker, but I have a lot to learn from her.
The presentation started off with a quilt that Lynette made as part of a challenge when the guild was young. All of the quilts were shown in November 2011. It was great to see her quilt again as it was one of my favorites from the bunch.
Bonnie’s Holiday quilt
The other thing I was thrilled to see at the meeting was Bonnie’s Holiday quilt. She worked really hard on it at the 2024 Retreat.
Show and tell was pretty good. I showed Sidewalk (unquilted) and talked about my plans for the Blue strip version.
I finished enough of the blue strip blocks to make another Sidewalk quilt. This will be the third blue strip donation quilt I have made! Apparently, I use a lot of blue. I am really excited to try the Sidewalk pattern with these strip blocks.
This is not all of the strips blocks I need. It is the group I put up on the design wall as I was making them.
I have made a little dent in my blue scrap drawer. I can probably close it now. I plan to keep making these blocks until I have used most of the strips. I did find that a lot of the scraps are smaller than 4.5 inch strips, so another blue improv donation quilt is in my future, too.
Putting Chain Link up on the design wall the other day made a huge difference. I could finally see what was going on with this quilt. I made good progress over the past couple of days and am pleased that this quilt is finally going in the right direction.
In the photo, the fabrics look plaid. Except for a couple of gingham charms, there isn’t any plaid. The rainbow stripes contribute to the effect, I think.
I worked really hard on putting the strip sets together. It is a tedious task, but had to be done, so I just got on with it. Once all the blocks were in place, I could see what was going on with this quilt. I could see how to put it together and the way the design was supposed to work. I don’t know why I couldn’t see that before.
I cut like a demon at Sew Day, so the pieces were ready to go when I was. Having the pieces cut, having fewer pieces and being more familiar with the process meant I was able to finish Triumphant block 3 in record time.
I am all caught up and have a break for a week until the border instructions are posted.
Yes. This top is in sight of being done. Hooray!
There are some pieces I would have cut differently, though I am sure Latifah had her reasons. I prefer large pieces for the background – as large as possible. I’ll have Colleen quilt over the intersections of the background, however, and I am sure by the time I get it back I won’t care. LOL!
Triumphant center complete
These are large blocks: 20 inches finished. Right now this is a large Nine Patch that is 60 inches wide.
I find the shapes that I can make with the HuRTy rulers are really different from other shapes. I looked at Latifah’s other patterns and didn’t see anything appealing. I hope she has a “Design with HuRTy rulers” course.
I finally took Sidewalk off the design wall and replaced it with Chain Link. No, Triumphant gets no time on the design wall. LOL! I have a lot of quilt projects happening at the moment. This is the result of starting so much.
This isn’t actually all of the blocks. I have to find a step stool and put the last two rows up at the top. It is enough for me now to see what is happening with this quilt top.
As you can see, I have a lot of the strips sets to make. I think this quilt will go together quickly once those are done.
It is so much easier to get a grip on this design when I can see it.
I finished the rest of the block 2 blocks. my design wall is full of Sidewalk, so I used the design floor (LOL!) to lay it out.
What stands out to me is that turquoise border around block 1 (center). It doesn’t stand out to me in a bad way. It definitely highlights the center block.
I kind of wish I had used the purple from the center for the purple tips of block 2, but c’est la vie. I am not ripping out more seams.
Since I had some free sewing time, I spent as much time as I could grab sewing this quilt top together. I concentrated on the half 16 patches first. I had been kind of limping along sewing them in between Triumphant block 2 pieces and was sick of it. I only needed a few more half blocks, so I sat down and sewed them.
I had a few hours while DH was out one evening so I started sewing the blocks together and just continued snatching time wherever I could. Once the half blocks were together this was a relatively easy quilt to sew together.
Sidewalk back
I decided to use red for the back. Shockingly, the back went together very well. Instead of fighting with pieces like normal, this back went together really easily.
I am glad this is finally done! I have some ideas for other versions, but want to get Chain Link and Triumphant pieced.
I am trying to keep up with the Triumphant Mystery quilt. I don’t want that lingering. Since the cutting is the hardest part, I spend as much time as I can on that when I have time.
I cut all the pieces for block 2, but started out just sewing one (of four) together. It has a really different look than ‘regular’ blocks.
I decided to call this quilt pattern ‘ Sidewalk’. There are other quilt patterns called ‘Sidewalk’, but this one looks more like city blocks surrounded by sidewalks than any of the other others. Besides I can’t keep calling it Half 16 Patch Sashing quilt. That name is too much of a mouthful.
I am making good progress. I have sewn the blocks together and am working on sewing them into pairs.
After cutting a lot of pieceswrong and having to re-cut I finally finished block 1. What I figured out is that I am struggling to cut the HRT B pieces.
For the next block, I will label much better. I had a hard time figuring out which ruler to use for trimming.
I have a lot of lists. One of them is in my journal. I get great satisfaction drawing a line through my to do items. I haven’t drawn a line through a project that has been on my list in awhile. You know I have been sewing, but not on those list projects.
I really want to cross at least one thing off one of my lists. I prefer to cross something off that has been hanging around for awhile. For some reason the Handbag Sampler came to mind. I was really pleased to find the blocks last year. Yet it is still unpieced.
I also found some of the fabrics I used for the piecing. Still nothing happened. I have decided to sew 9 of the blocks together, put one on the back and call it done. The colors are really different from my other samplers, which shows the versatility of block quilts. Still, I am not excited about the project any more and would just like to get it off the list.
Aqua-Red Sampler with prize
Finished: City Sampler- front
Sampler
A-B-C Challenge with 1st Place Ribbon
Finished: Star Sampler
While only a couple of these have the same blocks, they are all different types of samplers. I am fond of this style of quilt, because they don’t get boring to piece and I can use a variety of fabrics. I actually like projects like the Star Sampler. It is fun to find all different ways to modify one block.
I know people think samplers are old fashioned and boring. I don’t agree. I think the colors used are the key. I used great colors in the A-B-C Challenge. Actually I like the colors in all of my samplers, except for that burgundy in my first sampler. What did I know?
This is more of a product review than a tutorial. I’ll talk about the ruler and give you some resources and tips.
I started this post when the HuRTy 1** was a new-ish tool. The designer, Latifah Saafir has now released two more HuRTys: 2 and 3. All three HuRTys help quiltmakers cut and sew Half Rectangle Triangles (HRTs). I received HuRTy 1 as a gift from Friend Julie! On a whim, I bought HuRTY 2 and 3 myself.
You may know that Latifah is the creator of the Clammy series of rulers** that help make curved designs. You might remember the class I took from her and the quilt I made using the Clammies, as well as the relatively recent Orange Peel Circle tutorial. Latifah is talented and her rulers work really well!
Remember, I did a series of posts on tools for making HRTs? Take a look at those to get an idea of the various tools available for making this great shape. I use the Split Rects** ruler, mostly. I am always open to new tools and I had high hopes for the HuRTy 1 ruler** when I received it. I have to admit I struggled using it at first. The only way I got more comfortable was to cut a million HRT pieces for the Triumphant quilt. I admit that I cut a lot wrong as I got used to the ruler. Make sure you have plenty of fabric. You can plan to use the mis-cuts for a donation quilt.
Latifah, the designer of the ruler, has a YouTube channel. On it she has some good video tutorials, which SueS talked about when she wrote for this space recently. I tried using the ruler without watching the video and it didn’t work for me. This has nothing to do with the ruler or the instructions. As I have said before, it has everything to do with the way I learn. Also, specialty rulers can be challenging, so videos are great learning tools.
One of the things about HRTs is that you have to be able to make both HRT A & B blocks, if you want to make a piece like my Spiky 16 Patch. This means a lot of flipping and turning of the ruler. Different HRT ruler designers accomplish this in different ways.
Spiky 16 patch #5 top in progress
The first HuRTy video shows viewers how to use The HuRTy™ to cut both A & B HRT pieces. Amazingly, Latifah includes left handed cutting! These HRTs are the normal ones that I was able to cut using the SplitRects rulers.You can see the A and B pieces in this Spiky 16 Patch quilt. They face each other in the top center with the fat part of the triangle pointing in different directions. In this design the middle HRTs are touching.
My first efforts with HuRTy ruler, before using the Triumphant instructions, didn’t seem right. The pieces just seemed too small, then I realized I would have to trim them anyway, so I think most of them would work on my test project. I think trimming is a good thing with HRTs. There is so much bias that, in my opinion, it is the best method for making sure the patches are the right size.
Triumphant block #2
Part of the issue is knowing what size to cut the strips or pieces at the beginning. The Split Rects ruler** by Studio 180 Designs has that information printed on the ruler, which is super helpful. The Triumphant pattern had a whole section about cutting strips, which are later subcut into HRTs. The strip info does not seem to be printed on the HuRTy rulers.
Using both sides
You use both sides of this ruler. For the HRT A, the side called ‘A Start’ is up. For the HRT B pieces, the ‘B Start’ side is up. In the photo you can see that the ‘A Start’ is upside down. In the photo, I am trimming an already made HRT.
This is a little challenging, because you would have to put True Grips**, or similar, on both sides. I often put True Grips on specialty rulers so they stay in place. With the HuRTys, I have to pay careful attention.
I am curious about how to design a quilt using the HuRTy(s). Though I love specialty rulers, one thing I don’t like is if you have follow a pattern in order to use them.
In general, I will try new rulers. Often I buy specialty rulers with the intention of trying them and never do or get derailed. I was glad I signed up for the Triumphant quilt as it really is helping me to learn about using the HuRTy(s). It would be great to have a ‘ruler library’ where people can check out rulers in order to try them out.
Other Resources and Previous Posts
Deb Tucker tutorial on using the Split Rects ruler
Friend Julie has some posts about her Slopes quilt, which uses Half Rectangle Triangles. She used the HuRTy ruler, partially, to make them for a Color Collective project. You might want to take a look at her blog.
**N.B: Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I was able to accomplish A LOT at Sew Day. I trimmed all the Triumphant block 2 pieces that I sewed sometime. I also cut out all of the block 3 pieces. I felt like I was on a roll.
In general, Sew Day was not that well attended. We didn’t even fill up two tables this time. We did have a new potential member, which was good.
Amy’s wagon
Amy always finds the best stuff! This time she brought her new wagon, which is awesome and oh so pretty! It is so much more fun than the regular solid (grey and navy blue) Costco versions.
She got it from Natural Life and it is perfect for quiltmakers. They have a lot of great stuff. I was tempted to get a wagon, but I held off. I really liked their Mimi utility tote and almost bought a car trunk organizer. I need to measure my cargo space. They show it carrying groceries, but I would use it for the random stuff (paper towels, umbrella, blanket, first aid kit, etc) that I keep in the back of my car in case of emergencies.
AngelaB’s dino quilt top
AngelaB showed a super fun baby quilt on which she is working. She mapped out the design herself using graph paper! Each square is 5 inches, a pretty standard size. Floral dinosaur anyone?
The dinosaur is really cute. I also like how she used some florals and plant-like fabrics to depict the natural environment.
I am pleased I went and even more pleased that I accomplished my goals.
